I'll be loading it in the next day or so and go in and see what it's like. It definitely looks spooky, just judging from the box. From the back of the box: "Philip must collect clues and solve vexing puzzles while combating the gnawing psychological terrors that assail his mind and threaten to strip him of his sanity."

From the manual: WASD to move, shift to run, space bar to jump or swim up, tab to access inventory, mouse to look around, move or examine objects, move cursor, interact with objects, swing or throw tools... You'll be dealing with tools, a flashlight, a glowstick, a notebook.

There's sneaking -- keep to the shadows, crouching, distracting creatures by throwing an object. If you are discovered, you have few resources with which to defend yourself, so be careful while exploring, learn to lean to look around corners (keyboard keys Q and E). If you see an enemy, look away. (???) This means that you won't panic -- panic makes you easier to spot. Judging from the manual, there will be significant stealth elements.

You keep track of health -- painkillers restore your health.

The game autosaves, and you can save manually at certain save points, which take the form of ancient artifacts. There are ten manual saves and 5 autosaves.

I hope this info from the manual helps give an idea of what the game is like until one or more of us get into it even further!

Saw this at BestBuy for $19.99. Did not finish the first one. As interesting as it was, I couldn't get passed the dogs. If this question has been asked and I missed it, I apologize, but how important is it to play the first game in your enjoyment of the second?

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You become what you think about. Change your thoughts, change your life. - Dko

Becky, you're up late. Thanks for your reply. Liked the concept of the first game, and maybe I'll go back and tackle it again. Hearing rumor that the second installment is much more adventure-oriented, which, at least for this game, would be more up my alley.

_________________________
You become what you think about. Change your thoughts, change your life. - Dko

I just played an hour into Black Plague, and for the most part I was pleasantly surprised.

There's a tutorial at the beginning that's helpful, and a quick recap of the story in Penumbra: Overture. You can also pick a difficulty setting (there are three levels), with "Easy" specifically for people like me who don't like action/tricky stealth sequences. This setting doesn't eliminate these sequences, but does make them, well, easier.

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The physics-based gameplay is unusually creative -- I can see now how this can be adapted to give some unorthodox ways of approaching puzzle situations. It's fun to be able to pick things up and toss them around the room (your player character apparently does some weight-lifting in his spare time ). And I enjoyed being able to change the environment -- move things around and leave them where I want them, stack things on top of other things, swing things hanging from a hook, etc.

That said, there is some frustration in dealing with objects -- trying to get a chair to stand up normally was surprisingly difficult, and carrying long planks in these tight quarters requires some trial and error to keep from bumping into walls and other objects. This is not a game for the impatient gamer.

Movement is easy if you're used to panning with the mouse and moving forward with the "W" key. It's first person perspective.

Environments so far are a prison cell, a refrigerated room, a storage room and quite a bit of ventilation duct. It's spooky, with an atmosphere that, while not nerve-wracking yet, does heighten the senses and make you anticipate fearful things lurking around the next corner. I haven't met any monsters, but I've heard one.

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One downside -- twice in an hour the screen froze for about a minute, then gameplay resumed. There's an auto-save system, as well as extra saves that are based on reaching special "rewards" -- this means that if you quit between available saves, you will have to repeat everything when you return to the game.

You also die frequently, though you don't lose your inventory when you are respawned or revivified or reanimated or whatever.

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I'd say that this game would be good for gamers who want to try something different than the traditional adventure, have the patience to try something new, and enjoy an atmosphere of horror. One hour in, I'd say that so far it fits the definition of an adventure game.

I didn't experience the screen freezes you have been talking about. You can also save when you encounter some sort of strange lantern with orange lightbeams coming out of it. Click on it and the game will be saved. The Auto Save function works really well to. Just exit or enter a room (with the door icon) and the game will be saved. And about dealing with objects. Hold the a button (don't have the manual here, but I thought it was the C button) and then you can move the object a lot more easier with the mouse. You than control the object instead of the mouse pointer.

I'm playing it to and I love it so far. Some great puzzles that use the surroundings in a awesome way and it is very creepy. Love it.

I used the C button to try to get a plank to rest on its flat surface instead of on its side, without success. It didn't occur to me to try using it with the chair -- that might have helped, now that I think about it.

I agree that the game is well worth playing, if you have an interest in creative ways to build adventure game puzzles, or if you like adventures with a creepy atmosphere and don't mind a bit of innovation.

One screen freeze occurred when I tried putting (possible spoiler)

Click to reveal..

the can of soda on the crate right in front of the escaping steam from the pipe.

That may not have been something that the gamer is expected to do, which may have explained that particular problem.

One of the fun things about this game is trying crazy stuff to see if anything happens.

It worked fine for me, once you understand how it works. It kind of reminded me of the 3D interface in the last case of Phoenix Wright 1 and the new Apollo Justice. Hold the C button and then you have two axes (move left-right, move up-down) with the mouse.

I just encountered a terrible monster. His is fast and could kill you.

Click to reveal..

But I just ran away and lured him into another space and then locked him up.

I really like that way of thinking to survive. It basically is a puzzle. I really liked that, using the environment to solve puzzles.